The Leadership Quotient: How IQ, EQ, and XQ Come Together for Great Leadership

Most of us have heard of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ), which dates back to 1912, and is an assessment used to measure intellectual ability[1]. In the mid-1980s, the Emotional Quotient (EQ), which is more commonly referred to as Emotional Intelligence, emerged as a measure of one’s ability to self-regulate based on personal and social awareness and maturity[2,3]. Less known is the eXecution Quotient (XQ) which measures one’s ability to execute and perform effectively[4].?Only within the last 20 years has the “Quotient” concept been applied to leadership with several individuals making the leadership – quotient association.?Of these, one author in particular has proposed an additive association of IQ, EQ, and XQ to leadership through the summation model LQ=IQ+EQ+XQ[5].?While I stop well short of endorsing the?proposed mathematical relationship, functionally speaking, I believe it is correct; leadership is indeed a function of one’s intellectual ability, emotional awareness, and execution performance capability.

Linking IQ, EQ, and XQ to Leadership

Fundamentally speaking, leaders must do three things:

1. Identify a desired future state of existence. This?is a primary element of strategic leadership; IQ plays an important role here.
2. Inspire and motivate a group of people to want to achieve?the?desired future state of existence. These?are vital components of successful people leadership – where EQ is critical.
3. Plan and organize people in such a way that they are able to deliver results that secures that existence. Planning and organizing?are integral parts of operational leadership and require a high dose of XQ.??

1. IQ and Strategic Leadership

In the most pure sense, strategic leadership is about defining WHAT needs to be done.?However, before determining what needs to be done, you?must first have the ability to deeply understand your surroundings, limitations, environment, and situation. From a business perspective, these areas could represent your organization’s internal capability and limitations, the market environment in which you operate, and your competitive situation.

Having higher order intellect such as high cognition, good complex problem solving skills, and envisioning the big-picture are of extreme value when diagnosing your current circumstance, and then subsequently, developing a forward-looking strategy to improve it. Thus,?IQ, which?research has shown is heavily influenced by genetics and difficult to change, definitely?influences your strategic leadership capabilities.?This is not to say that if you score less than 140 on an IQ test (i.e. genius level) that you are at a loss to develop your strategic leadership capabilities. Much of what we know as leadership can be learned - including strategic leadership.?Refer to my post,?Learn to Lead:?Key Environmental Factors that Contribute to Leadership?for more on this topic.?

2. EQ and People Leadership

People leadership focuses?on the WHO – as in who will do what needs to be done. Effective people leadership requires that you, first and foremost, have the ability to understand and control yourself – be it your moods, motivations, emotions, or behaviors. Of course, as much as you understand yourself, to be an effective people leader, you will also need to understand these attributes for others as well. This self- and social awareness will give you the ability to exercise personal and social flexibility, and when necessary, restraint. It is this skill?that?will help you develop, maintain, and nurture meaningful, balanced relationships with other people. What I have just described is EQ.

Research tells us EQ is moderately influenced by genetics but heavily determined by early childhood experiences. With long-term training, dedication, and determination, EQ can?actually be increased. With a high EQ, you are better able to discern when you should display empathy and compassion versus toughness and firmness. Being able to modulate your intensity, actions, and behaviors based on the spoken or even unspoken needs of others will enhance your respect and trust factors.?As I stated in my prior post, The Thrilla on LinkedIn’ila, “If your people do not respect you, they will not trust you. If they do not trust you, they will not follow you. If they do not follow you, you cannot lead them.”?EQ absolutely influences your people leadership abilities.??

3. XQ and Operational Leadership

XQ is simply about getting things done.?Operational leadership stems from XQ and applies to HOW to do what needs to be done. Those who are high in XQ are proficient in prioritizing projects and action items that need completing. They are decisive when things are not clear and relentless in their resolve. High XQ individuals are adept at formulating implementation plans and structuring processes and systems required for implementation. Organizing people for effective outcomes, measuring and tracking results accurately, and packaging and reporting results are also noted skills for execution focused individuals.?The above mentioned attributes are all necessary components for effective operational leadership. Based on experience, XQ is almost certainly exclusively determined by environmental factors and goes hand in hand with operational leadership.

Conclusion: The Leadership Quotient

The Leadership Quotient brings together three critical?elements of?our personalities that essentially define the extent to which are are able to lead successfully.?High IQ is essential for complex problem solving. High?EQ is important for relating to people and establishing meaning relationships.?High XQ is critical for competing tasks effectively and efficiently (see model below).

It is naturally difficult to be equally good at all three components of the LQ. I have experienced high IQ individuals who were underdeveloped in EQ and had difficulty relating to people. I have also observed high EQ personalities who had difficulty making tough decisions for fear of disrupting social harmony; they were lacking?in XQ. Finally, I have known high XQ people who were so focused on delivering results that they regularly negated the needs and feelings of colleagues. In the spirit of transparency, I know this last type very well; this was me 20 years ago when I was a young upstart beginning my professional career.

In an annual performance review session, my boss at the time shared with me that many?of my colleagues preferred not?to work with me because of what I now know was a heavily weighted XQ leadership style that was supplemented with a decent dose of IQ and essentially absent of any inkling of EQ.?Imagine my devastation at getting that feedback!?Since that time, I have become a student of leadership. I worked tirelessly on my journey to achieve a (more) balanced LQ. I remain on this?journey today. I cannot say if I am perfectly balanced in LQ; I will leave that debate to my past, current, and future colleagues. However, I can say with 100% certainty that I am more balanced in LQ today than I was on that horrifying day 20 years ago when I received that life changing feedback. If I can significantly change my LQ, so can you.?Good luck to you as you progress on your own leadership journey.

Thank you for reading my article. The Leadership Quotient: How IQ, EQ, and XQ Come Together for Great Leadership?is the 21st?article from Dr. Michael Edwards. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe to my Newsletter,?Leadership Explained,?to get notified when I publish a new article. Please 'share' this article with your network, click 'like', and/or leave a comment.?Click 'Follow' if you wish to follow me on LinkedIn.

References

?1. Stern, W. (1912)?Die psychologischen Methoden der Intelligenzprüfung: und deren Anwendung an Schulkindern.?(original German edition).Leipzig: J. A. Barth, pp.?48–58.?English translated by?Whipple, G. (1914)?The Psychological Methods of Testing Intelligence.?Baltimore: Warwick & York.?Educational Psychology Monographs, No. 13, pp.?70–84.?LCCN?14010447. OCLC?4521857.

2. Payne, W.L. (1983/1986). A study of emotion: developing emotional intelligence; self integration; relating to fear, pain and desire. Dissertation Abstracts International, 47, p. 203A (University microfilms No. AAC 8605928).

3. Beasley, K. (May 1987). The Emotional Quotient. Mensa Magazine (UK Edition), p25.

4. Koshima, H. (2001)?Execution Quotient: “EQ”. Psychogeriatrics, 1, pp. 153-154.?Article retrieved from?https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-8301.2001.tb00044.x/pdf.

5. Surinder, S. (August 2012)?Leadership Quotient: The Science of Leadership. Diversity MBA Magazine.?Article retrieved from?https://diversitymbamagazine.com/leadership-quotient-the-science-of-leadership.